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Cisco Catalyst Blade Switch 3130 for Dell Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter19 Configuring Optional Spanning-Tree Features
Understanding Optional Spanning-Tree Features
Understanding EtherChannel Guard
You can use EtherChannel guard to detect an EtherChannel misconfiguration between the switch and a
connected device. A misconfiguration can occur if the switch interfaces are configured in an
EtherChannel, but the interfaces on the other device are not. A m isco nfigurat ion c an a lso o cc ur if the
channel parameters are not the same at both ends of th e EtherChannel. For EtherChannel configuration
guidelines, see the “EtherChannel Configuration Guidelines” section on page 37-11.
If the switch detects a misconfiguration on the other device, EtherChannel guard places the switch
interfaces in the error-disabled state, and displays an error message.
You can enable this feature by using the spanning-tree etherchannel guard misconfig global
configuration command.
Understanding Root Guard
The Layer 2 network of a data center can include many connections to switches that are not owned by
the data center. In such a topology, the spanning tree can reconfigure itself and select a customer switch
as the root switch, as shown in Figure 19-9. You can avoid this situation by enabling root guard on data
center switch interfaces that connect to switches in your customer’s network. If spanning-tree
calculations cause an interface in the customer network to be selected as the root port, root guard then
places the interface in the root-inconsistent (blocked) state to prevent the customer’s switch from
becoming the root switch or being in the path to the root.
If a switch outside the data center network becomes the root switch, the interface is blocked
(root-inconsistent state), and spanning tree selects a new root switch. The customer’s switch does not
become the root switch and is not in the path to the root.
If the switch is operating in multiple spanning-tree (MST) mode, root guard forces the interface to be a
designated port. If a boundary port is blocked in an internal spanning-tree (IST) in stance because of root
guard, the interface also is blocked in all MST instances. A boundary port is an interface that connec ts
to a LAN, the designated switch of which is either an IEEE 802.1D switch or a switch with a different
MST region configuration.
Root guard enabled on an interface applies to all the VLANs to which the interface belongs. VLANs can
be grouped and mapped to an MST instance.
You can enable this feature by using the spanning-tree guard root interface configuration command.
Caution Misuse of the root-guard feature can cause a loss of connectivity.